Channeling private capital into the community we call home.
Amelia Capital Group works to position Northeast Florida for a decade of Opportunity Zone investment — and to make sure the next round of federal designations reaches Nassau County.
Unleashing opportunity.
At Amelia Capital Group, our mission is to unleash opportunity in the parts of our community that have been left behind. As demand across Florida surges, housing costs have risen faster than local families can keep pace with — and the working people who have called Fernandina Beach home for generations are being priced out of it.
This has always been a close community, bound by shared culture and values. But in my twenty years here, I've watched the cost of living climb relentlessly. Amelia Capital Group exists to answer one question: how do we restore what makes this place ours, and drive private investment into the neighborhoods that have been forgotten?
That's our work — bringing patient, private capital home, so opportunity reaches the people and places that built this community.
A local firm, focused on bringing outside capital home.
We use the federal Opportunity Zone program as a tool to move long-term private investment into the communities that need it — financed by private capital, at no cost to local government.
Opportunity Zone investment
We concentrate on the Opportunity Zone incentive as a proven way to direct patient, private capital into underserved census tracts across Nassau County.
Local economic development
Our aim is investment that strengthens the community — supporting housing, jobs, and small business, and broadening the local tax base without spending local dollars.
Public engagement
We work alongside local and state leaders to make sure our community is positioned to compete for the incentives that shape the next decade of investment.
Making the case for Nassau County in the 2026 Opportunity Zone window.
On July 1, 2026, Florida began a once-in-a-decade process: the Governor will nominate a limited, capped set of census tracts as Opportunity Zones for 2027 through 2036. Once the list is set, it holds for ten years. We're advocating to make sure an eligible Amelia Island community earns a place on it.
Build the case with data
Documenting local eligibility and investment readiness in the terms state decision-makers use.
Engage local leaders
Working with Nassau County and City of Fernandina Beach officials to build formal, documented support.
Reach the state
Carrying that support to FloridaCommerce and the Governor's office ahead of the fall deadline.
The goal: a designation that brings a decade of private investment to Nassau County — expanding housing, jobs, and the local tax base, at no cost to taxpayers.
Census Tract 501.03 — Fernandina Beach / Amelia Island
Nassau County, Florida · GEOID 12089050103. This is the tract we're working to place on Florida's 2027 Opportunity Zone map — and the community case behind it.
The recommendation: Tract 501.03 is federally eligible for designation as a 2027 Opportunity Zone and carries U.S. Treasury Rural status — unlocking the enhanced 30% basis step-up. Because Florida can designate only a fraction of its eligible tracts, documented local support is the decisive factor in whether 501.03 advances.
| Census tract | 501.03 · GEOID 12089050103 |
|---|---|
| Location | Fernandina Beach / Amelia Island |
| Metro area | Jacksonville MSA |
| Treasury rural status | Rural — eligible for the 30% step-up |
| MFI ratio | 65.64% — below the 70% threshold |
| Median family income | $64,865 (≈30% below the $93,316 metro median) |
| Poverty | 14.27% · 497 residents below poverty |
| Population | 3,609 |
| Renter households | 26.0% |
| Land area | 1.77 sq. miles |
Source: U.S. Treasury OZ 2.0 eligibility dataset (Rev. Proc. 2026-14) and 2020–2024 ACS 5-year estimates.
Genuine need, real fundamentals
Median family income runs roughly 30% below the metro median, with nearly 500 residents below poverty and a 26% renter base facing barrier-island housing costs — yet the tract has the location and infrastructure to attract and absorb private capital. That mix of authentic need and investment readiness is exactly what state selection guidance calls for.
Rural status makes it a capital magnet
Treasury classifies 501.03 as rural, so under the OBBBA its investments earn a 30% basis step-up after five years versus the standard 10% — materially stronger investor economics that make it one of the more investable tracts in Northeast Florida. A designation here will get used, not sit idle for a decade.
What is an Opportunity Zone?
An Opportunity Zone is a federally designated, economically distressed census tract where investors receive a tax incentive to reinvest capital gains into local development. Governors nominate the tracts; the U.S. Treasury certifies them.
Made permanent by federal law in 2025, the program now redraws its map every ten years — which is why the designations decided in 2026 matter so much. Crucially, the incentive is federal: it carries no local tax expenditure and no cost to county or city budgets.
Let's build what's next for Nassau County.
For partnership, community, or press inquiries, we'd like to hear from you.